Bombers look for upside with Pears on track

AS ESSENDON'S pre-season campaign turns to more of a football focus, it has been the performance of Tayte Pears which has pleased the coaches.

Pears managed only 10 matches last season, and particularly struggled at the end of the campaign when he appeared unfit and lacked confidence. It was another disappointing season for the key defender, who played in 23 matches in 2009 but has largely been restricted by injury since.

But Bombers football manager Danny Corcoran said Pears, who attracted the interest of several clubs in the trade period, was progressing well through a demanding pre-season.

''He is going really well. He has hardly missed a session so, fingers crossed, he can get back to where he was,'' he said.

This is the first time since joining the club that Pears has been able to run fully before Christmas. He is not experiencing soreness in his troublesome foot. ''I think it's great to see Tayte Pears out on the track,'' assistant coach Simon Goodwin said.

''We haven't seen a lot of him over the last couple of years, just to get him back out on the track and doing every session, is really good for the footy club.''

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But teammate Scott Gumbleton will be benched until training resumes in January after he was diagnosed with hamstring tightness on Friday. Corcoran said scans had not been done. ''We think he has a minor hamstring but he should be back fully when we return to training in January,'' he said.

Gumbleton, who has played only 28 matches since being the No. 2 draft pick in 2006, has a history of hamstring issues.

Goodwin told the club's website the Bombers were moving into a new phase of training. ''I guess they have been in a fairly heavy running phase for a period of time and, now we are in December, we are really starting to ramp our footy up and the guys are really embracing it and training to a high level,'' he said.

''It's really a phase now of getting them conditioned to football. We have done a fair part of our conditioning, getting them strong, getting them fit, now it's about really conditioning them footy-wise and really lead them into January.''

Bombers chief executive Ian Robson said Mark Thompson, recently remarried and on his honeymoon, would continue to exert as much influence on the club and coach James Hird as he has since rejoining the club.

■ Former Carlton utility Bret Thornton could reactivate his career with Greater Western Sydney via Tuesday's rookie draft.

The Giants had looked to secure former Essendon big man Jason Laycock, who has been playing in Tasmania, but he has failed a medical. Laycock had spoken several times recently with Giants coach Kevin Sheedy. Thornton, 29, played 188 matches and was cut by the Blues in September. He was an unrestricted free agent but there was little interest from rival clubs during the trade period.